


Scarlet Beauty

by Witchy1ness



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, One-Sided Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 16:11:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9191623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Witchy1ness/pseuds/Witchy1ness
Summary: What may have been going on behind the scenes with Will Scarlet in the season 4 episode "Lily". Lame title is lame because I legitimately cannot come up with anything better.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Once Upon a Time and all recognizable characters are the property of ABC Studios, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, I'm just borrowing them :)
> 
> Written in 2016.
> 
> Reviews and constructive criticism welcome, flames will be ignored.

The second Will locks eyes with Gold, it feels like the Dark One has reached inside his chest and squeezed an ice-cold hand around his heart. All higher reasoning flees - something his self-preservation instincts _strongly_ suggest he does as well - but the more primordial part of his brain knows it is a very bad idea to run when faced with a predator like Gold, so the most he can accomplish is a stumbling, halting backpedaling. 

It is only when Gold’s ultimatum is delivered, and the man himself gone in a swirl of ominous smoke that Will remembers to breathe again. The immediate threat gone he finds himself able to move once more, and he immediately spins and grabs the doorknob, bolting out of the store and not stopping until he’s in the city park.

He staggers to a stop under an old oak tree, sucking in deep lungfuls of air and trying not to pass out as the adrenaline begins to leave his system. Will braces his back against the trunk, but his knees are having none of it; he haltingly slides down it until he collapses at the base of the tree, rather like a puppet with his strings cut. 

A rather ironic thought, his mouth twists, given what he’s just been told about Belle. 

_The Dark One always lies!_

And yet...

Belle and Rumplestiltskin have A History, one Will really only knows bits and pieces of. He does know, however, that Belle has loved Rumplestiltskin for a long, long time; been through things because of that love that Will frankly doesn’t want to think about. 

He hunches into his leather jacket as the thought forces him to admit that, yes, falling in…in _like_ with the Dark One’s wife _wasn’t_ one of his brightest ideas. And okay yes, considering it hasn’t been _that_ long since Belle had…renounced? - banished, at the least – Rumplestiltskin, he did find it a little….curious….that she had been so welcoming of his company so soon, but…..

If it is true that Regina _does_ have Belle’s heart – and somehow, even though past experience and a desperate wish of ‘please let it be so!’ tells him _The Dark One always lies!_ Will believes Gold – then, maybe the reason she has been so…receptive to him is because Belle isn’t really _Belle_. 

The thought takes root in his brain and he can’t shake it, since he knows firsthand what it’s like to be without a heart.

And he _knows_ that is what Gold is after: not only proof that what was once the Dark One’s will _always_ be the Dark One’s, but a dagger to twist in Will Scarlet’s heart; that even though he has once again picked himself up after being brought low by love, _it was all in vain_. 

And the thought that these past few weeks have all been a sham make his throat close up and his stomach tie itself in knots. Will gives his head a fierce shake as he stands back up, bracing himself against the tree for one long moment before pushing off and heading in the direction of Regina’s house. He can feel his resolve firming with every step he takes. 

_No._

He would get Belle’s heart back all right, and then he was going to prove to Gold – and himself – that what he and Belle had was _real_. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Back at the shop with Belle’s heart in his hands and his in his throat, Will tries to ignore the part of his mind that is _screaming danger, danger! Don’t trust him!_ The alarms in his mind only get louder with every nice, humble, apologetic word out of Gold’s mouth. 

He has to turn away at the last moment, but the sound of Belle’s gasp when her heart is returned to her rings in his ears like a death knell, drowning out everything else. Following it is the curious sensation of feeling his heart stop in his chest, blocking his lungs as his world comes crashing down around him _again_. There is a brief moment of hope, when Rumplestiltskin begins to walk away, that even though Belle turns to watch him go, _she stays by Will’s side_.

But when he finally works up enough courage to look at her, he knows. He sees her pale face and tear-bright eyes; gaze locked on the back of the man who’s done nothing but lie to her, and feels her slipping through his fingers. 

But Will Scarlet isn’t one to go down without a fight. He reaches for her hand – he’d _meant_ to reach for her hand – but his limbs aren’t quite obeying him properly, and he only manages to curl two fingers around her palm. And then the door closes, and Belle _literally_ slips out of his fingers, leaving him all but forgotten, even though at that moment she’s the only thing he can see or think about. 

And it is then, in a rather detached sort of manner, that Will accepts the hard, fatalistic truth: 

He has lost. 

Again.

**Author's Note:**

> It's amazing what you find when you try to gather all your random stories from the various hard drives, flash drives, and cell phones that you apparently have them squirreled away on.....
> 
> I know I kind of went "Here I am!!!" and then vanished off the face of AO3 like I dropped off a cliff, but I am - regrettably - the kind of writer who starts a half a dozen stories and then never finishes ANY them. Everything I've posted thus far was spawned over a decade of sporadic writing, so one of my (many) New Year's resolutions is that I'm hoping to finish one story a month in 2017. So many ideas.....


End file.
